Tag: Cooper Flanagan

Notre Dame Week 12 highlight: Cooper Flanagan finishes the drive

Notre Dame cashed right away after a turnover.

You’d think that with the No. 8 Notre Dame Fighting Irish having first-and-goal at the Virginia Cavaliers’ 2-yard line, the Irish would choose to have quarterback [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] run it in.

Instead, Leonard pulled the ball away from a handoff and found a wide-open [autotag]Cooper Flanagan[/autotag]. The tight end easily hauled the pass in to finish the 1-play, 2-yard drive

Notre Dame’s offense started slow against Virginia, but it is taking advantage of Cavalier turnovers to get itself going.

The touchdown, for example, came after a Notre Dame interception.

Notre Dame didn't stop in the second half against Purdue.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Cooper Flanagan (87) and Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Kevin Bauman (84) celebrates in front of Purdue Boilermakers defensive back Dillon Thieneman (31) after a Notre Dame Fighting Irish touchdown Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, during the NCAA football game at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Notre Dame Fighting Irish won 66-7.

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Notre Dame vs. Virginia: Second-Quarter Analysis

This quarter lasted over an hour and was quite crazy.

If you were hoping for more action between Notre Dame and Virginia in the second quarter, you would have gotten some. In a quarter that lasted over an hour in real time, the Irish had one crazy moment after another, and it ended with them holding a 28-0 halftime lead.

Both teams continued to struggle offensively for the first few minutes. After [autotag]Max Hurleman[/autotag] muffed a punt and the Cavaliers recovered, the Irish’s 7-0 lead appeared to be in jeopardy. But the Irish took the ball right back a few plays later when [autotag]Rod Heard II[/autotag] forced a Kobe Pace fumble that was recovered by [autotag]Xavier Watts[/autotag].

The difference between the two turnovers is that the Irish took advantage. Their offense had its most productive drive of the day, and it culminated when [autotag]Riley Leonard[/autotag] hit [autotag]Jayden Harrison[/autotag] for an 8-yard touchdown.

On the next possession, Leonard fired another apparent touchdown pass to Harrison from 78 yards out, but it was wiped out when [autotag]Pat Coogan[/autotag] was penalized for illegal hands to the face.

Another apparent touchdown then was wiped out after a very confusing sequence. Faced with fourth-and-11, the Irish opted to fake a punt and try a fumblerooski, and [autotag]Jordan Faison[/autotag] ran the ball 73 yards to the house. However, the officials called it back for illegal formation, much to the chagrin of the Notre Dame Stadium fans and the NBC announcers.

But that touchdown was dying to be scored, and it finally was after [autotag]Adon Shuler[/autotag] returned an interception 46 yards and Leonard immediately faked a handoff before firing to an open [autotag]Cooper Flanagan[/autotag] in the end zone from 2 yards out.

The Irish weren’t finished though. Anthony Colandrea threw another interception, this one to [autotag]Leonard Moore[/autotag]. On the final of three subsequent passes, [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] had a 16-yard touchdown.

Colandrea kept feeling generous though because Watts picked off another one of his passes in the waning seconds of the quarter. Although [autotag]Mitch Jeter[/autotag] missed a 54-yard field goal as time expired, the Irish still deserved a rest in the locker room after everything that had just happened.

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Notre Dame Week 3 highlight: Fighting Irish continue to pour it on to start second half

Will one easy touchdown toss from the backup start a QB controversy?

Notre Dame took starting quarterback Riley Leonard out to rest and avoid potential injury as the second half started against the Purdue Boilermakers with the Fighting Irish leading comfortably, 42-0.

Two plays later, backup Steve Angeli may have inadvertently started a quarterback controversy when he hid a wide-open Cooper Flanagan for a 28-yard touchdown. The tight end was so open because Purdue was too aggressive on defense.

This means Angeli has one passing touchdown on the season, while Leonard, who struggled against Texas A&M and Northern Illinois, has none. Leonard did run for three touchdowns in the first half, and while his passing numbers were pedestrian, he did look more comfortable throwing the football.

One easy touchdown is unlikely to cause a quarterback change, but some frustrated fans will likely advocate for it anyway. At least until Leonard looks as consistently comfortable passing as he does running.

 

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Top Notre Dame receiver Mitchell Evans out for season with torn ACL

Big loss for the Irish.

Notre Dame will be without its top receiver for the rest of the season. [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] confirmed Monday that tight end [autotag]Mitchell Evans[/autotag] tore his ACL in Saturday’s win over Pittsburgh.

Evans, who was in his junior season, currently is the Irish’s top receiver with 422 yards on 29 receptions. He is averaging 14.6 yards a receptions and has scored one touchdown, which came in the loss to Louisville.

This obviously is a tough blow to an Irish offense that has been starting to find its groove again after going through a tough stretch. [autotag]Gerad Parker[/autotag] now will have to dig further into the depth chart.

[autotag]Holden Staes[/autotag] has scored the second-most touchdowns for the Irish this season at four, but this also will open up more opportunities from [autotag]Eli Raridon[/autotag] and [autotag]Cooper Flanagan[/autotag]. Still, they probably wish it was happening under better circumstances.

Hopefully, we’ll see Evans in an Irish uniform again before too long. Until then, here’s to a speedy recovery.

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Meet Notre Dame’s Now Complete 2023 Recruiting Class

Meet Notre Dame’s 26 current commitments in what is a top-five class nationally.

After a whirlwind couple of years the 2023 recruiting class has officially been completed at Notre Dame.  What started out tremendously hit a few snags along the way.  It closed with one of the strangest signing day stories you’ll ever see when Peyton Bowen bailed on Notre Dame for Oregon, only to change his mind and bail on Oregon for Oklahoma just a day later.

In all, Notre Dame wound up with 24 signed commitments after the second signing period in February.  It didn’t finish in the top couple of spots nationally like we had hoped after it’s tremendous start but will continue to add to the overall talent for Notre Dame.

Here are the 24 newest members of the Notre Dame football team:

Where each 2023 Notre Dame signee landed on ESPN’s final recruiting class update

The Irish class is loaded with talent

The first full class for [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] should be viewed at as a booming success for [autotag]Notre Dame[/autotag] football. Not only did the Irish fill holes but they created a lot of depth across every position group. It was extremely impressive for the first-time head coach.

Today, ESPN released their final update to the 2023 recruiting cycle and there was plenty of Irish signees that were named on their list. Even though there weren’t any players ranked inside the top 50, Notre Dame players were still all around the list.

Find out below which Fighting Irish signees made ESPN’s final top 300 list.

Notre Dame Football 2023 early signing day tracker

This class didn’t waste any time getting their signatures to South Bend

It is finally upon us, the hard work the Irish football staff has put in can finally but a “bow” on the 2023 recruiting cycle. Yes, there is still another point where recruits can sign, but Marcus Freeman and his staff have already maxed out the class with verbals and if everyone signs, they will be one over the normal allotment of 25 players.

A few of the verbals didn’t waste any time faxing their information over to South Bend but they should keep coming in as the day proceeds. Find out below which Irish commitments have made their Notre Dame pledges complete. (This list will be updated as the day goes on so make sure to return.)

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Where each Notre Dame ‘23 commit landed on 247Sports updated Top 247

This list is long and impressive for the Irish

The Irish have amassed one of the top recruiting classes for the 2023 cycle, it has been an impressive group in the little time that Marcus Freeman has been leading the program. Yes, the news on this front has not been the best in the recent weeks, but the work has still been put in and the results are fantastic.

Since 247Sports has now analyzed the play from the past high school season, they made one of their final class updated and released their latest Top 247 recruits. Plenty of future Irish stars made their list and you can find out below which ones did and where they ended up.

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Watch: Highlights of Notre Dame commits during this weekends action

Some impressive plays by Irish commits

The Irish 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes is one of the best in the country. There are playmakers at every position and many of them are the best player on their team, if not their entire conference. So, expect many of them to make highlight plays on a weekly basis. Check out some of the best highlights from Notre Dame commits during this past weeks action.

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Another West coast star is heavily considering Notre Dame

The Irish are looking for another West coast star

The Irish are one of a few schools in the nation that can recruit on a national level. Regardless of where the prospect resides, the Notre Dame coaching staff can walk the halls and create a buzz.

The react goes from coast to coast, all you have to do is look at the current recruiting cycles to see that. [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] has gotten commitments from both coasts, defensive end [autotag]Boubacar Traore[/autotag] resides in Massachusetts while tight end [autotag]Cooper Flanagan[/autotag] is from California. They aren’t the only ones from each coast just an example of the Irish’s reach.

The recent commitment from running back [autotag]Jayden Limar[/autotag], of Washington, reinforces the reach. Limar isn’t the only Washington prospect the Irish are after, cornerback [autotag]Jasiah Wagoner[/autotag] is also considering heading to South Bend and he announced his final seven schools which included Notre Dame.

The next step is making a shorter list for Wagoner, as he is still considering California, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Texas and home state Washington along with the Irish. Hopefully Limar gets in his ear about joining him in South Bend.

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